Shifters (The Neturu Chronicles Book 3)

by Sarah Carter

  Claire closes her eyes. “What are you doing?” Damien asks.

  “Shut up.” Claire concentrates. Suddenly, she gets a weird sensation and starts walking. It’s not like she can feel her. It’s as if her body knows where to go. She turns through a few coordinators. Then she can sense her. She doesn’t know how but she knows she’s three doors down. A few guard members are coming down the hall. Claire puts her hand up. “You need to back up.”

  “Claire,” Damien says behind her.

  “So help me God, I will punch you out,” Claire states.

  Damien nods to the guards. “Go down to the end of the hallway.”

  Reaching forward, Claire slowly opens the door. “Lexi?” She hears sniffling under a table in the corner. Claire walks over there and looks underneath it. Lexi is curled up into a ball and is crying. “Come on. Come on out of there.”

  “No, Daddy mean.”

  Claire goes underneath the table and opens her arms. “This is new to him Sweetie. Remember, you told me Daddy takes time.”

  “No see future now,” Lexi cries. “Daddy no love Lexi.” She shies away from Claire. “Lexi going to go away.”

  “Oh no you’re not,” Damien says, squatting down on the floor. “We haven’t had ice cream yet.”

  Lexi just stares at him with a quivering lip. “Daddy give Lexi ice cream?”

  “Damien,” he corrects her. “But yes, I will give you ice cream. Can you come out of there?” Lexi stares at him and then shakes her head.

  “Lexi honey, this is really uncomfortable,” Claire says, huddled underneath the table. Lexi puts her hand up and Claire watches the metal sift off into air and disappear.

  “Whoa,” Damien exhales.

  She looks at him. “Told you so.”

  Damien looks at Lexi, “Lexi honey. This is a little hard for me to believe. I don’t hate you or anything. I want what’s only best for you. You know, happy and healthy. I want you to have fun.”

  “Daddy play barbies with Lexi. Daddy let Lexi listen to setacop.”

  Claire and Damien furrows their eyebrows. “What’s that?”

  Lexi puts her hand to her chest. “Daddy listen to human’s heart. Daddy make them better.”

  “A stethoscope,” Damien exhales. “How did you know I wanted to be a doctor?”

  Giving him this big smile, Lexi says, “Neturu, Master Blakely. Humans, Doctor Blakely. Daddy go to Stamferd.”

  “Stanford,” Damien replies. “That’s incredible.” He turns to Claire. “Did you tell her?”

  Claire shakes her head. “Nope.”

  He looks back at Lexi. “What else do you know?”

  “Mommy throw ring at Daddy. Mommy mad at Daddy. Lexi no want Mommy mad at Daddy. Lexi sorry.”

  “Oh honey,” Claire says, reaching for her. “You didn’t do anything.” Lexi finally crawls over to Claire’s arms.

  Damien reaches in and touches her tiny leg. “It’s my fault. I said something mean because I’m stressed out. That wasn’t right. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

  Curling up to Claire, Lexi says, “Lexi no see future of Lexi. Only of others. No see if Daddy love Lexi. Daddy did love Lexi. Time shift.”

  With her heart breaking, Claire whispers, “There was a time shift?”

  Lexi’s little shoulders shrug. “Lexi no know.”

  Claire looks at Damien and slightly glares. He sighs. “Come here.” Damien opens his arms up. Lexi looks at him for a moment. “Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream. My favorite is peanut butter cup. We have to try a bunch of them until you find which one you like, of course.”

  After a moment of hesitation, Lexi crawls across the floor to Damien. He grabs her and lifts her up. “Thank you Daddy.”

  “It’s…” he stops. “You know what, let’s not talk about that now. Let’s concentrate on ice cream.” He starts to walk out of the room.

  “Tests?” Lexi replies.

  Damien furrows his eyebrows. “Tests?”

  “Lexi stand in scammer.”

  He looks up at Claire. “Oh. Lexi, honey, we won’t do anything like that right away and we will only do it if you want us to. We won’t force you to do anything.”

  “Lexi saw before. Lexi saw Mommy put Lexi in scammer. It very important.”

  Claire steps up to her. “Why is it very important?”

  “Show what Collector did. Lexi different. Lexi all. Dr. Gagiler scan Lexi. Lexi see future of Lexi before. No know time shift.”

  “You don’t know if there was a time shift with that,” Claire replies. Lexi shakes her head. “Let’s concentrate on one thing at a time. We should get some ice cream first. Then dinner.”

  “Then bath,” Lexi states.

  “I thought you didn’t see your future anymore,” Claire says.

  Lexi shakes her head. “Mommy always give Lexi a bath before bed. Always. Lexi see before. Every night, bath time. Lexi no like hair washed.”

  “Well, maybe we will skip a bath tonight. It was a big day.”

  “No, Lexi want bath. No dirty feet on clean sheets.” Lexi giggles.

  Claire furrows her eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound like something I would say.”

  “No, Daddy say. Daddy always make Lexi clean her room. Lexi like to clean like Aunt Kayla. Uncle Jackson teach Lexi how to make cookies. Lexi want to see Aunt Kayla and Uncle Jackson.”

  Damien’s eyes widen and he looks at Claire. She gives him a looking saying ‘I told you so’. He shakes his head. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

  They start to walk down the hallway. Claire is behind Damien. She sees Lexi smile. Lexi wraps her arms around Damien and puts her head in the crook of his neck. Claire sees Damien tense up and then relax a little. For a split second, it looks like Damien puts his head on hers a little bit. That makes Claire smile. Finally making it to ship’s dining room, Damien walks over and puts Lexi by a chair. “Sit down.”

  Lexi hops up and swings her legs under the table. “Daddy get ice cream.”

  “I figured ice cream was a comfort food,” Damien replies. “Before we unload everyone on the bigger ship, I wanted them to feel a little more comfortable. So, this ship and the larger ship were supplied with ice cream and cake.”

  “Oh, Lexi want cake!” Lexi squeals.

  “Okay,” Damien laughs. “A little bit and a little bit of ice cream. You still have to eat dinner.”

  Swinging her little legs on the chair, Lexi says, “Okay.”

  Damien takes out a few containers and a piece of cake. “We will share some cake.”

  “Cake! Lexi always wanted to try cake.”

  He comes over and sits down next to her. “Come on Claire. Sit down.”

  She laughs and sits down on the other side. “What are we having first?”

  “How about strawberry?” Damien chimes. He scoops a little bit on a spoon and holds it in front of Lexi. She opens her mouth. He laughs and shakes his head. She takes the bite as he puts it in her mouth. Lexi moves it around in her mouth. “So the verdict?” Damien asks.

  Lexi scrunches up her face. “What vermit mean?”

  “Sorry. Did you like it?”

  Beaming at him, Lexi yells, “More!” Shaking his head again, Damien spoons some more for her. After a few more bites, Lexi points to another container. “What that?”

  “Mint chocolate chip,” Damien replies. “Want to try some?” Lexi nods. He gives her a little. They go through seven flavors before Damien asks, “So, which one is your favorite?”

  “Daddy’s favorite!” Lexi squeals in excitement. “Lexi meet Gampa!”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Claire says.

  Jumping down, Lexi screams, “Gampa!” And goes running in the direction of the door. Mr. Hardrick walks in and Lexi squeals again, flying against him.

  “Oh,” Mr. Hardrick huffs. “Hello, you must be Lexi.”

  “Gampa!” She yells, throwing her hands up.

  With a hesitant look, Mr. Hardrick bends down and picks her up. Lexi wr
aps her arms around his neck and gives him a big kiss. “Why, hi,” he laughs. “How are you feeling?”

  “Lexi have ice cream with Daddy!”

  Mr. Hardrick gives a look to Claire and Damien. “You can’t feed her ice cream before dinner. Be better parents than that.”

  “Eat big ship!” Lexi squeals again.

  “I thought you couldn’t see your future anymore,” Claire says, walking up to them.

  “Lexi know all,” she says. “Lexi see before. Lexi see all before.”

  “You saw all of this before now,” Claire replies. Lexi nods. “But you can’t see your future beyond what you’ve seen already.” She shakes her head. “Weird.”

  Little Lexi shrugs her shoulders. “Lexi no know time shift for Lexi. Daddy…no love Lexi.” She looks down.

  Claire turns and glares at Damien to say something. “Lexi, honey, give me a little time, okay? This is a lot to take.”

  “Lexi too much,” she whispers, as her eyes tear up. “Lexi too special.”

  “Come here,” Damien sighs, taking her from Mr. Hardrick. “Don’t ever, ever, ever say that you are too special. There’s no such thing.”

  With big eyes, Lexi says, “Daddy no know what Lexi can do…”

  “Well, I know a lot,” Damien replies. “You can see the future.” Lexi gives a curt nod. “You can change the elements.” Lexi gives a big smile. “You can walk through things.” Lexi beams now. “What else?”

  “Lexi control body. Make things hurt.”

  “You can make people hurt,” Damien draws out.

  Nudging him, Claire says, “That’s what she did to those guards.”

  “Oh yeah, and you can move things,” Damien replies. “Big things?”

  “BIG THINGS!” Lexi screams. Suddenly, the whole ship jolts and they fall over. “Stop ship!”

  Alarms start going off. Claire scrambles over to Lexi. “Are you okay?”

  “I fall on Daddy!” She giggles.

  “Master Damien,” a voice comes over the intercom. “The engines have failed.”

  “Lexi,” Damien snaps. “Stop that.”

  Squishing her face up, Lexi giggles some more. The alarms stop sounding and the voice says, “The engines are back on line. Should we proceed to the main ship? It will only be a few minutes. Otherwise we can bring another ship here.”

  “No,” Damien replies, giving a look to Lexi. “Proceed on course.”

  Claire picks Lexi up. “Okay honey,” she says, “I know you were trying to show us what you can do but that’s dangerous. Someone could have gotten hurt.”

  Lexi’s lip pops out. “Sorry Mommy.”

  “How about no more powers for the next couple of days, okay?” Damien says. “I know it’s going to be hard but we need to keep things under control.”

  She nods. “Okay Daddy. No powers but Daddy give kissie to Lexi!”

  “Oh, bartering are we?” Damien laughs. “You would do well in our line.”

  “Lexi Rose Blakely.”

  He gets a thoughtful look on his face. “That was my grandma’s name. I was always going to use it. How would you know that?”

  “Mommy and Daddy fight over middle name. Mommy want Anne and Daddy want Rose.”

  “I win obviously,” Damien laughs, looking at Claire triumphantly.

  “We will see about that,” Claire remarks back.

  Damien shakes his head and laughs. “You know young lady. I’m starting to not doubt you.”

  “Daddy love Lexi!” She squeals.

  He smiles. “You squeal a lot.”

  “Two year olds do that,” Mr. Hardrick says. “You just wait. She’s probably going to be the Tasmanian Devil in a small body. Lots of crying and meltdowns. You just wait.”

  “Oh boy,” Damien half laughs, looking very out of place. Lexi giggles with a big smile. “Are you going to be a handful?”

  “Lexi be good,” she says. “No trouble.”

  Claire pulls her close and kisses her on the cheek. “So, you don’t get into trouble.”

  “Little trouble,” Lexi mumbles, playing with Claire’s jumpsuit. “Lexi too cute.”

  “Oh!” Claire exclaims. “You think you aren’t going to get into trouble because you are too cute? I highly doubt that.”

  Lexi giggles. “Lexi know all.”

  “I think Lexi is lying,” Claire replies, with a smirk. “It’s not good to lie. That’s bad.”

  “No lie,” Lexi says, shaking her head. “Trouble with Mommy. Daddy say too cute.”

  Pressing her lips together, Claire looks at Damien. “Is that so?”

  “I doubt that,” he scoffs, rolling his eyes. Claire can see the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. “Are you going to do no more powers?” He asks, looking at Lexi.

  “Daddy kiss?” Lexi chimes with big eyes.

  Damien sighs. “Yes, Damien will kiss you.” Lexi leans forward and gives him a big kiss. She then wraps her arms around his neck and nestles up to him. Claire lets go and Damien takes her. Lexi holds tight.

  “Love you Daddy.”

  The look on Damien’s face suddenly changes and his eyes widen and turn to Claire.

  She smiles. “Told you so.”

  He leans his head against Lexi’s and looks totally confused. “Is it an ability?” He asks.

  “No idea,” Claire replies. “I told you. It was suddenly like a piece fell into place. I didn’t even know I was missing her out of my life.”

  “This is so weird,” Damien states. “Though, I know I’m going to do nothing but protect you.”

  “What do you think your father will say?” Mr. Hardrick asks.

  Shaking his head, Damien replies, “I have no idea. Lexi honey…”

  “Yeah Daddy,” she says, sitting up.

  “Is this an ability of yours?”

  “No Daddy,” Lexi giggles. “The future emotion happen right now. No need to build up. I’m here.”

  Damien shakes his head. “That really doesn’t make much sense.”

  “Lexi ex…ex…ex..pl..ame….”

  “Explain,” he finishes for her.

  “Yes, Lexi explain later. Older. Make more sense,” she states with a smile.

  He shakes his head again. “I think it’s going to take a while to figure you out.”

  “Daddy is Lexi’s best friend,” Lexi says, with the biggest smile.

  “That sounds good to me,” Damien replies. “We should go get on the other ship now. What do you think? I would like to change your clothes.”

  Lexi looks down at her grey outfit. “Lexi wear colors.”

  “Lexi can wear whatever she wants,” Damien replies. “We will dress you to the nines.”

  “No, Lexi two.”

  “I know. Never mind,” he laughs.

  “I ordered you some clothes and they should be at the ship. I also got you some toys,” Claire declares, tickling Lexi’s side.

  Her eyes widen. “Lexi need snuffles, Barbie and blankie.”

  “I will send someone to get them, right now,” Damien says. A guard member is passing by. “Excuse me, please go to the private wing and in room 2 there are some toys and a blanket. Please bring them to me.” The guard member nods and turns to leave. “Now, we have to see how the others are doing as well.”

  “Lexi meet everyone!”

  Damien smirks. “I bet you know all of them already huh?” Lexi smiles and nods. “You’re going to live one interesting life.”

  “Hide first,” Lexi says.

  “Hide first?” Damien replies. “What do you mean?”

  “Lexi have to hide. Lexi so different. People scared of Lexi,” she whispers, playing with his hair. She puts her head on his shoulder. “Lexi no know what happens. Lexi only know that Lexi hide. Purple hair and green eyes. Different. Powers. Learn powers.”

  He nods. “You need to learn to control your powers.”

  “Yeah Daddy.”

  “I’m going to stay home with you, okay?” Claire says. “We can home school.
My mom will help teach you all that you need to know.”

  “Lexi know lot already,” she mumbles. “Lexi know all.”

  Claire smirks. “That is probably true, but I still need to make sure you get an education.”

  “Okay Mommy.”

  “Let’s walk to the bay door,” Damien suggests. “The guard will bring your stuff and then you will be on the big ship.”

  Patting her tummy, Lexi says, “Lexi hungry. Mommy hungry too.”

  “Yeah, I’m starving. I’m always hungry though. That’s nothing new,” Claire snorts.

  “Lexi hungry a lot too,” Lexi replies. “Lexi love Daddy cooks.”

  “See, she does know you,” Claire states to him. “Not many people know that.”

  Damien nods his head. “I have been proven wrong. There’s no way she would be able to know all of this information. That Kayla likes to clean and Jackson likes to bake. That I wanted to use my grandma’s middle name. None of this is open information. Mr. Grandin wouldn’t even know that really. I believe her. I believe you Lexi. I don’t know what it is about you but…it is like a piece of me was missing.”

  “I wonder if it’s an ability,” Mr. Hardrick says. “That people attach to her so quickly.”

  “Maybe,” Damien replies, looking at Lexi. “I don’t care what it is. I know she belongs with us.”

  Lexi wraps her arms around Damien’s neck and gives him a kiss. “Daddy.”

  “Yeah, you can call me that now.”

  “Lexi know weird,” Lexi sighs. “Lexi know since little that you be Mommy and Daddy. Lexi see it. Lexi sees baths. Lexi sees playing with ball. Lexi see horses with Auntie Victoria. Lexi know fight because Mommy show her. She karate chops.” Lexi does the hand movement in the air.

  Claire laughs. “We will obviously need to work on that.”

  “Lexi watches mom teach guards.”

  “You watch me?”

  “Lexi doesn’t like to be alone. Lexi spend so much time alone,” Lexi says, her eyes watering up a little.

  Bopping her on the nose, Claire says, “You won’t be alone. We can take coloring books. Do you like to color?”

  Lexi beams and nods. “Lexi love to color. Lexi love to paint.”

  “We will get you a whole bunch of art supplies then,” Damien promises. “You can do anything you want to.”

  “To a certain degree,” Claire snorts. “Let’s not get carried away.”